Spread of Christianity
Explore how Christianity spread from a small Jewish sect to the official religion of the Roman Empire in just three centuries.
The spread of Christianity from a small group of followers in 1st-century Palestine to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire is one of the most remarkable transformations in world history. Within three centuries of Jesus' crucifixion, a faith that began among Jewish peasants in a backwater province had conquered the empire that had executed its founder.
Several factors explain Christianity's success. Paul of Tarsus' decision to evangelize non-Jews opened the faith to the vast Gentile population of the Roman world. The religion's message of spiritual equality, eternal salvation, and community care proved powerfully attractive to the urban poor, women, and enslaved people who had little stake in traditional Roman religion. Christian communities provided social services — caring for the sick, burying the dead, supporting widows — that no other institution offered.
The Roman infrastructure that was supposed to prevent challenges to imperial authority ironically facilitated Christianity's spread. Roman roads made travel safe. The common Greek language made communication possible across the eastern Mediterranean. Urban networks provided ready-made communities for missionaries to convert. Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313 CE ended persecution and gave Christianity legal status. By 380 CE, under Theodosius I, it became the empire's official state religion — a transformation that would shape European and global history for the next two millennia.